Oh, we do love those clever brides and grooms who can pull off a pretty DIY wedding – and today’s peach and rose gold destination wedding is another absolute stunner!
Laura and Simon had muito help from their creative friends and family when planning their beautiful wedding in Luz, Portugal. And, the ever talented Matt & Lena Photography were on hand to capture the magic of their laid back big day.
Words by Laura. Images by Matt & Lena.
My aunt and uncle moved to the Algarve about 9 years ago now, my Uncle has his service at the Church in Luz. I have always wanted to get married abroad and the Church was special to me for that reason. We did look at places in England and every time we did, it rained.
We knew we would have good weather and one trip to Luz confirmed that. The reception venue was easy to choose, being opposite the church, The Forteleza is a restaurant with great views and amazing food, everything just seemed to fall into place.
My Mum and I had a few trips to Luz before the wedding and my Aunty was great with the planning too – her friend doing the flowers and another friend making the cake. I have been to Luz lots of times so it helped in the planning process and having my Aunty living there too.
Luc at the Fortaleza made all the planning at the venue very easy, he was great to speak to, he always replied to emails and just made the whole planning experience so much easier.
My wedding dress was by Allure Bridal and I loved it because it was the opposite of what I thought I would love. I wore it with a beautiful pair of Jimmy Choos.
One flower I had to have was baby breathe, as I just love how simple it is and it was also my nanas favourite flower. My brother and sister in law bought me a blue pin which I pinned to my bouquet.
Matt & Lena Photography were our wedding photographers. We loved having them with us on the day, the pictures are amazing and they made it all so easy.
We didn’t have a theme as such, our colours were peach and rose gold. All the decorations were DIY, we did everything ourselves and it just had a lot more meaning knowing all the hard work and touches that had gone into everything.
My Mum was absolutely amazing at all the DIY, she is so creative and artistic, and I couldn’t have done it without her.
My Aunt collected big glass jars that we used on the tables, we wrapped hessian around them with peach lace and we used the baby breath to place in the jars.
My Mum made various table decorations to lay on the tables using lace and peach fabric to tie into the colour scheme.
My Mum made all the name settings on the luggage labels and printed the guest’s names onto peach fabric and then used the lace underneath.
We used brown card for menus on the table, these tied in with the seating plan, which again used the same fabric to tie all the colours in. We made our own table numbers by using photos of us at different ages which caused a few giggles.
Throughout the day there are so many special moments, I loved the journey to the church with my Dad on the horse as it was so different, really relaxing and not how I ever thought I would travel to church, it allowed us to share some special time together.
Getting ready in the morning with my bridesmaids and family, walking down the aisle to see Si’s face… the moments we had to ourselves, and sharing the day with family and special friends.
Enjoy the planning of your day as it is all part of the fun and the memories you will have forever. Enjoy every moment of the day as it just flies by and things that you think you will worry about you probably won’t even think about as I know I didn’t.
It was far beyond how I ever thought our day would be, it was truly perfect. My brother and sister in law were amazing on the day and did so much for the smooth running of the day and dealt with things we didn’t even know about until after and I think having someone who can do that really does make your day hassle free and more enjoyable.
We are both very laid back and we wanted the day to reflect that. Sometimes weddings can be stressful and we didn’t want that to be a feature at all in our day. I hadn’t really thought about what it would be like, I just hoped everyone would enjoy it and have a great time… and they did! It was just the perfect day.
Love destination weddings? Check out more wedding getaways here.
wedding credits / photographer: matt & lena photography / wedding venue: luz church and forteleza da luz in algarve portugal / brides dress: allure bridals / grooms chinos: next / brides shoes: jimmy choo / grooms shirt: asos / bowties: mum and aunt / bridesmaid dresses: house of fraser / bridesmaid gifts: kate spade / hair & makeup: unique and chic weddings / florist: aunt / wedding cake: aunt / catering: fortaleza daluz
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